MPs accuse Sir Philip Green of being an ‘unscrupulous chancer’

MPs have lambasted Sir Philip Green for the demise of BHS, accusing him of being an “unscrupulous chancer” and of overseeing “wealth extraction rather than wealth creation”.

Green has come under fire after BHS collapsed with a pension deficit of £571m despite the tycoon and other investors collecting more than £580m in dividends, rent and interest payments during his ownership – before he sold it for £1 to a man who had been declared bankrupt three times.

The business minister Anna Soubry, said the government would take any misconduct in the downfall of BHS extremely seriously, pledging to ban the people involved as directors and call in the police if necessary.